Jan 17, 2011

Best (and worst) of the Golden Globes

"What can be the silliness of the Golden Globes matched up with the seriousness of the critics on Sunday night as the Social Network took the prize for best drama..." — New York Times

I love that "what can be the silliness of the Golden globes" as the writer takes the impetuous thrust of judgment and submits it to the tempered sobriety of the Old Grey Lady. He'd love to write "the silliness of the golden Globes," of course, but some sub-editor would invariably point out that while the Golden Globes have on occasion been found "silly" they haven't been found so on a 24-hour, round the clock, 7-day-a-week basis. It might be argued of course that, in the interests of objectivity, even a temporary attack of silliness requires further explication. On what occasions has silliness descended? Having descended, might it not one day depart? And in whose eyes? Might it be the case that what one person finds silly, another person finds jolly? Perhaps the sentence should read, "What can be, on occasion, and in the eyes of some beholders inclined to judge such matters in a less than flattering right, the silliness of the golden globes...." But even that leaves a few cracks through which the fog on incomprehension might creep. Best leave well alone, I think, and get on with the bestowal of TBTTM's own gong-show gongs.

Heedless irony of the evening: E Entertainment's 'Black Swan' make-up tip segment enabling viewers to transform themselves with "that magical black swan ballerina look," thus reversing the entrenched war against death-by-prettification waged by Aronofsky and his movie. More apropos, of course, would have been some Barbara Hershey toe-nail clippers and Portman-patented hangnail strippers, designed to leave each of your limbs a bloody stump whose rorschach spatter patterns symbolise the rape of innocence by the Greek god Zeus. Even Portman herself seemed to have defied her director's purdah-like edicts on the color pink and slipped into a diaphanous pink Dior gown. We can only pray that her punishment will be swift.

Weirdest speech: Robert De Niro. He doesn't say anything for 40 years, doesn't crack a smile let alone a joke, and when he does finally open his mouth he launches into a rusty old Rupert Pupkin monologue stocked with leering, year-late references to Megan Fox's hotness? The promo reel looked suitably mythic; the speech lanced the myth.

Worst Speech: David Fincher. Some teenage breast-beating about how"misanthropic" and "pitch-black" he usually is, together with some unconvincing snarls about how little public approbation means to him. Stay home, then.

Most revealing cutaway: The look on the faces on Fincher's actors to see their captain ("Oh captain my captain") stammer and blush, debutantishly, at the podium as he told everyone how little they meant to him. It was rather like the look on Dorothy's face when the curtain is drawn back by Toto to reveal Oz as a huffing, puffing, tinpot imposter.

Worst Hair: a close contest between Annette Bening, who looked as if she had recently stuck her fingers into an electrical socket and Al Pacino who should be congratulated for the safe haven he offers passing families of nestless rodents.

Favorite thank-you: Bening thanking "the winner of the 1962 Golden globe for best newcomer of the year," aka Warren Beatty.

Classiest speech: Aaron Sorkin, for his courtesy to Mark Zuckerberg, his boosterism for elites and smart women.

"The book is a must for Woody Allen fans" - Joe Meyers, Connecticut Post

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R E V I E W S

"What makes the book worth taking home, however, is the excellent text... by Tom Shone, a film critic worth reading whatever aspect of the film industry he talks about. (His book Blockbuster is a must).... Most critics are at their best when speaking the language of derision but Shone has the precious gift of being carried away in a sensible manner, and of begin celebratory without setting your teeth on edge." — Clive James, Prospect "The real draw here is Shone’s text, which tells the stories behind the pictures with intelligence and grace. It’s that rarest of creatures: a coffee-table book that’s also a helluva good read." — Jason Bailey, Flavorwire

"There’s a danger of drifting into blandness with this picture packed, coffee-table format. Shone is too vigorous a critic not to put up a fight. He calls Gangs “heartbreaking in the way that only missed masterpieces can be: raging, wounded, incomplete, galvanised by sallies of wild invention”. There’s lots of jazzy, thumbnail writing of this kind... Shone on the “rich, strange and unfathomable” Taxi Driver (1976) cuts to the essence of what Scorsese is capable of." — Tim Robey, The Sunday Telegraph

"A beautiful book on the Taxi Driver director's career by former Sunday Times film critic Tom Shone who relishes Scorsese's "energetic winding riffs that mix cinema history and personal reminiscence".' — Kate Muir,The Times"No mere coffee table book. Shone expertly guides us through Scorsese’s long career.... Shone shows a fine appreciation of his subject, too. Describing Taxi Driver (1976) as having ‘the stillness of a cobra’ is both pithy and apposite.... Fascinating stuff." — Michael Doherty, RTE Guide"An admiring but clear-eyed view of the great American filmmaker’s career... Shone gives the book the heft of a smart critical biography... his arguments are always strong and his insights are fresh. The oversized book’s beauty is matched by its brains”— Connecticut Post

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Click to order

“The film book of the year.... enthralling... groundbreaking.” — The Daily Telegraph

“Blockbuster is weirdly humane: it prizes entertainment over boredom, and audiences over critics, and yet it’s a work of great critical intelligence” – Nick Hornby, The Believer

“Beautifully written and very funny... I loved it and didn’t want it to end.” – Helen Fielding“[An] impressively learned narrative... approachable and enlightening... Shone evinces an intuitive knowledge of what makes audiences respond... One of those rare film books that walks the fine line between populist tub-thumping and sky-is-falling, Sontag-esque screed.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Exhilarating.... wit, style and a good deal of cheeky scorn for the opinions of bien-pensant liberal intellectuals.” – Phillip French, Times Literary Supplement

“Startlingly original... his ability to sum up an actor or director in one well-turned phrase is reminiscent of Pauline Kael’s... the first and last word on the subject. For anyone interested in film, this book is a must read.” – Toby Young, The Spectator

“A history of caring” – Louis Menand, The New Yorker“Smart, observant… nuanced and original, a conversation between the kid who saw Star Wars a couple dozen times and the adult who's starting to think that a handful might have sufficed.” – Chris Tamarri, The Village Voice

"A sweet and savvy page-turner of a valentine to New York, the strange world of fiction, the pleasures of a tall, full glass and just about everything else that matters" — Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story and Absurdistan